Struck, Again
by Shinjite Florana
Summary: He should have expected it, really. The impossibility of it shouldn’t have hindered him in the slightest to come to the easy conclusion. It was just like her. It was the start. Again. Chaiki X Matoko, oneshort drabble


First first first… Just watched the movie, ya see, so I couldn't _not_ write a little something. Xb First _The girl Who Leapt Through Time_ fanfic, yes yes. Don't ask for more right now, but there's one note **you need to know before reading** this story. --

I like original stuff. Things can get tampered with and lost in translations from one language to another. So I watch all my shows in their original language. Subtitled, of course. -wink- So! To keep the feel of the movie I saw, Japanese phrases are used. If ya don't know em', here's a key.

Key

Bakayrou, Manuke, Baka = Idiot!, Stupid!, Moron!, Dumbass!- Go ahead and pick your favs. (All insults)

Nani = What?

Daijoubu = Are you ok?

It-ta-ta-ta = (Like our ouch. Said when in pain. –sigh- .)

* * *

He should have expected it, really. The impossibility of it shouldn't have hindered him in the slightest to come to the easy conclusion. It was just like her.

She announced herself with pain. Pain in the form of an 80mph baseball to the face, causing him to stumble and almost fall to the ground.

"It-ta-ta-ta-! Ah! _Bakayarou_! Who the _hell_-" It's debatable whether he stopped because he realized what he had been hit with- an object that brought back so many memories they froze his mind in reverie- or the banshee like scream that followed.

"_CHAIKEEE!!!_" And the voice, strained to a level he had only ever heard it so once before, ratted through his head. His eyes dilated. His heart stopped. And his head wouldn't move- wouldn't turn- and all his consecration that had left him the moment he heard her had to be forced back before he could rotate and look at her.

He didn't have much time to take her in before she engulfed him. She stayed true to her word, and not a moment was lost in reaching him through walking, jogging, or even sprinting. She _ran_.

And she didn't stop running. Not until she smacked into him so hard he heard a crack like thunder, and they were on the ground, warm rain falling from her gasping face to make him squint his eyes and blur his vision, taunting him that he couldn't see her face yet.

"_Manuke_! _Baka_!"

Each insult widened his eyes and smile alike. Excitement, joy, mixing together into an elixir that he swore would make him fly. He wanted to see her- _needed_ to see her face.

He blinked his eyes, but the world was still fogged. Her face was a smudge, and her shirt was a dull green haze. Blurry images of hands that he came to the understanding of were his, reached out and held her shoulders. But he couldn't hold her back. The force, want, and _need_ of years was to strong.

She viciously knotted her hands in his hair and pulled his face to meet hers. His cheeks- his eyes- his ears and nose even- all were under a torrent of earnest kisses. In the few seconds her lips were free she muttered a jumble of curses and endearments. 'How dare you make me wait so long?!' and 'I've missed you so much…'.

And Chaiki couldn't stand it. He was on the verge of tears. No satisfaction, no joy, no excitement- not yet. Using strength he didn't know he had in him, he was able to pull the girl off him. How backwards it seemed. She was supposed to be the shy one, the one that was used to them being just friends. The phrase 'distance makes the heart grow fonder' seemed to rain very true in her case- their case. He needed her.

"Ano…Chaiki…? N-nani? …Daijoubu?" her voice ranged, even in just the few words she said, from confusion, to wonder, to concern.

Chaiki's eyes were shut. As he held her back longer, Makoto's hands fell from his hair. He took a deep breath and released it in his first word to her.

"Makoto…"

He opened his eyes slowly although he wanted nothing more then to see her, to look into her face and know it was her, know she was back, and revel in such a reality. But such a rush- such an abrupt action- seemed to have the ability to frighten such a truth away. And so it was slowly, _agonizingly_ slowly, that he opened his eyes.

The curtain rose, and the setting sun framed behind her head, glowing like a halo, turning the tears lingering in her eyes to sparkling diamonds.

Years. It had been years since he had been able to look at her. He didn't even have a picture to keep when he came back.

Her eyes were still brown, and her hair was still short. Her nose was still small and simple, and her lips were still thin and only just parted. Her figure was still slim, and her face was still breathtaking.

As his eyes memorized her face again and again, her expression turned sly and her mouth curled in a coy smile.

"Well, you still look like you could use a haircut and a trip to the cleaners. That's a relief," she teased. He could see the blush. The rash moment was gone from her now, and the embarrassment of her actions was starting to set in. She felt a scence of… _rejection_ from him? No. He couldn't let that lie continue.

"Makoto…" he still searched her face.

"What was I going to do if you learned how to take care of yourself while I was gone? I'd be useless." She stuck the tip of her tongue out at him as she flicked some of her hair back.

"O-Oie! What's that supposed to mean? I can take care of myself!" Chaiki's cheek's colored.

"I know, I know," her tone sounded more like 'Whatever you like to tell yourself.' Makoto waved her hand and for the first time since their reuniting tore her gaze from his face to look around her. The blush still reddened her face.

That wouldn't do. He wanted to see her face. He wanted her still, her attention, full and complete. He still needed to tell her, to communicate to her the vital message of how much he missed her, how much he had wanted her, all the times he had needed her, how franticly and desperately he had craved and anticipated, grasped and held on to the only string of hope: that this moment would one day arrive.

"Makoto,"

She turned back to him and re-locked eyes. Maybe his expression finally spoke to her. Her eyes relaxed wide and her lips parted limply as she was caught up in the intensity of his gaze.

Chiaki's arms were lead. He couldn't lift them. All he could do was lean himself forward to share his final first kiss with a woman that even time couldn't hold from him. And that was enough.

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Oh, you don't know HOW tempting it was to turn this into a dream sequence and have him wake up. Xb but I didn't. cuz dat would be mean. And I love you guys. –winks- Free hugs and cookies for all! (also, something like ending it as a dream kinda wants a follow up, witch I really don't think I'll produce. Xb) Any who, your overly sweet, dripping with gushy love-fluff is done. I hope you enjoyed. Xb Ja ne!


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